The Doc Justice Files - Mystic Mayhem part 3
by Direwolf

Chapter 4 - Now You See Him!

"I really don't think you should have shouted at that poor fellow," Go-on noted as he and Alex walked down Lombard Street. Though there were some who might have said Alex wasn't walking so much as stalking.

"I did not shout at him, merely addressed him in a forceful manner in an effort to discern if he was concealing anything of note worth. It is not at all the same thing!" Alex insisted. "And I thought his answers were being suspiciously evasive."

"Suspiciously evasive? Oh go on! The poor fellow was nearly deaf and when you get agitated, you're accent gets just about thick enough to cut and serve with sandwiches. It's a good thing the poor old fellow didn't have a weak heart or you would have left a fatality in your wake, I'm sure."

"Fine, then you can speak with the next proprietor and show me how one conducts a proper interrogation. And here is your chance. ‘City Flowers', what an original name. I wonder how they thought of it?"

The two of them walked into the small flower shop. Ten minutes latter, they came out none the wiser.

"Well, so much for your interrogation techniques." Alex scoffed.

"No amount of threats and bluster will get a man to tell you something he just doesn't know. I know that you Czarists are used to simply beating confessions out of the accused, those you didn't just knout to death on the spot, but here in America, they are much more civilized. Almost British in that regard."

"But if he does know something, sometimes a well timed threat is just what you need to pry it out of him."

The argument kept them going as they walked up the street. By now, they had been through several dozen flower shops and were no closer to finding the self-styled Amazing Randu than they had been this morning. At least the day was pleasant enough for a walk, Alex thought. The perpetual San Francisco fog had given way to a reasonably sunny day. And the brisk walk and verbal sparing seemed to be just what Go-on needed to banish the last of his lingering fugue. They spotted yet another flower shop across the street and darted over though the slowly moving traffic, arriving outside the "Sedgwick & Son, Florists" establishment. Go-on gallantly held the door open for Alex.

The interior of the shop was crowded with large bundles of flowers and greenery standing in galvanized pails of water. Pre-made bouquets in a wide range of color combinations, each in a glass vase, sat on a shelf. The air was rich with the scent of the countless blooms as well as the slight lingering scent of other flowers that had expired. A thin, balding man in a banker's green visor stood up from a stool by a work table in the back that was strewn with plant cuttings, sheets of newspaper and roles of green florists' tape.

"May I help you?" he asked expectantly.

"I certainly hope so, sir, we are tying to locate someone who might have been a customer of yours. It is quite important we find this fellow." Alex tried on a wining smile. If charm worked so well for Britt, perhaps she might make it work for herself.

"Oh, I see..." the shop keeper said, obviously crestfallen that they weren't paying customers. "I'll help if I can."

"Thank you Mr. Sedgwick. We wouldn't be asking if this wasn't a matter of very grave importance. And if you can help, we would be most grateful."

Mr. Sedgwick, or perhaps his son, brightened noticeably. "I'll be happy to help. So, who are you looking for?"

"A man who buys red, long stemmed American beauty roses, probably no more then one at a time. I have a sketch of the fellow."

Alex took the folded picture of the Amazing Randu from the inner breast pocket of her tweed jacket, unfolded it and passed it to Mr. Sedgwick. The shopkeeper took a pair of reading glasses from his pocket and examined the picture.

"Yes, I know this fellow. Comes in about every other week and gets a single flower, tipping a nickel each time. Funny, he used to come in more frequently." He passed the picture back. "He doesn't wear a turban, however."

Alex felt her heart quicken with excitement. This was there first real lead. She stifled the desire to grab the old man and demand answers.

"What can you tell us about him?" she asked.

"Not sure if I should be talking about my customers with just any old person who comes in and asks, you know. Just doesn't seem right...."

Alex ground her teeth. But Go-on was correct, she couldn't just beat the information out of him and it seemed charm only went so far. A different tactic was called for, a combined approach.

Alex took a dollar bill out of her pocket. "That man is wanted by the police for a number of very serious crimes that have, as of yet, not been reported in the papers. Should he be the one they are looking for, and it is proved you shielded him, you could be considered an accomplice and face charges yourself, you know."

The shopkeeper blanched even as his eyes locked on the money in Alex's gloved hand.

"Don't know his name, ma'am. He used to come in once a week and pick up a few white carnations. Then, about mouth and half back, I think, he started with the one red rose at a time. I figured he was courting a lady, you understand. Never thought he was up to no good."

"Are you sure it was him? And can you tell us anything else about him? How he dressed, if he drove a car or anything like that?"

"I'm sure it's him. The eyes are the same, though he generally wears a brown suit and fedora. Nothing special. Tall guy who moves suavely, like a movie actor or something like that. Don't recall any car, when he was in yesterday, a big paneled truck waited for him out side. There was something written on the side but I couldn't read it. Think I need a stronger set of glasses. That help?"

"Yes, very much, I suspect," she handed him the money with a smile. In her mind, he'd just earned it.

Mr. Sedgwick relaxed noticeable and actually bowed in thanks. Alex and Go-on started for the door.

"One more thing, ma'am, seeing as you played straight with me. I don't know if this has any bearing on what are looking for, but that turban made me think that you might want to take a look see over at The Magic Castle. It's about five blocks up Lombard from here. I've heard it's a nightclub that specializes in magic acts. Maybe they know something about the man you are looking for."

This time, Alex's smile was genuine. This felt like even more of a break. "And excellent idea. Oh, and while we are here, can you do me the honor of sending that...."

She pointed at random to one of the larger bouquets." ....To Doctor Justin Collins at Number One Post Street?'

"Madam, it would be my pleasure!"

That afternoon, all six of them gathered in Justin's office to compare notes on what they had found. Of them all, only Alex and Go-on had come up with anything solid. Justin seemed particularly interested in the florist's comments on a panel truck that had picked up the suspect yesterday.

"Why is that?" Britt asked.

"Well, I went by the crime scenes today to take a look at the alleyway where the men vanished," Justin explained. " Near the bank the ladies were at yesterday, I found some odd looking holes in the ground, each about the size of a pencil and about three inches deep. Looked as if they had been drilled in the last couple of days. They made a sort of diamond pattern about two thirds of the way down the alley. I found what might have been similar holes at the other two banks, but they looked like they had been patched"

Justin sat back and sipped from a cup of coffee provided by the ever-efficient Fu Lee. "Then I asked some questions of people who were down there when the robbery took place. I was lucky enough to find a newsboy who had been there about a half hour after the robbery, that would have been after the police arrived but before the full crime teams where there. Right after you left. He remembered seeing a panel truck parked near the alleyway. It was for a company called "Sunset City Glass" and he thought he saw some workmen taking something out of the alley. I already checked and can't find any trace of a company called Sunset City Glass."

"You think they have a connection with the robbers, then?" Alex said.

"Either that, or it's a remarkable coincidence that they were there and gone before a full police investigation took place."

"So now what? I assume you aren't thinking about another day of pounding the pavement in teams trying to drum up information?" Lucas looked pointedly at Britt who seemed more interesting in the flowers on Justin's desk than in the conversation.

"No, I think we have gotten what we can from trying that. It would seem a visit to the Magic Castle is in order."

"Splendid!" Go-on said, "A table for six, is it?"

"I must decline," Fu Lee, announced, "having taken the day from my duties, I am quite behind in my house work and that cannot be allowed to continue. I am sure you can proceed from this point without me."

"I'll drive but you folks can watch for rabbits coming out of hats or cards that change color. This‘ll give me a chance to talk to other drivers and cab men if they have ever seen this Amazing Randu," Lucas insisted.

"Table for four then?" Britt asked, grabbing Justin's arm and smiling a decidedly predatory smile.

The Magic Castle occupied a renovated house at the corner of Lombard and Gough. A well-to-do Stock Broker with a mania for a pesudo-medieval look had built the house then lost his fortune in the market crash. It passed through a number of owners in the past two years, until it reached its current incarnation as a high-end nightclub that specialized in magical acts.

Alex, looking quite fashionable in an elegant gown, walked arm in arm with Go-on towards the gray stone building. Go-on, his white silk scarf fluttering like a pendant swung his walking stick with a jaunty beat. Justin walked just behind them, he hadn't bothered with eveningwear and was clad in a simple, well-tailored charcoal gray suit. In a gesture to fashion, he had left behind his long leather flying coat and had a simple black overcoat slung over his arm. Beside him, her arm linked with his in an obvious gesture of possession, walked Lady Britomart Paget. And Alex couldn't help but wonder how she was avoiding freezing. Her dress, what little there was of it, seemed comprised primarily of gold gauze and sea blue chiffon.

As they reached the arched entryway where gas torches flickered, a doorman dressed as someone's idea of a medieval page approached and bowed stiffly. "Do you have reservations?"

"None what soever my, good man! At least, that is what the press says about my sister and me. Though perhaps they said inhibitions, I always get those two confused. But allow me to introduce myself. I am Lord Gawaine Paget, this charming woman is Miss Alex Gregory, and the grim looking man with no sense of satorical style is my good friend, your own Doctor Justin Collins. And the woman you are ogling is my sister, the Lady Britomart Paget. And this is my friend, President Lincoln. I'm sure you can find us a table for the magic show, can't you?"

Go-on stuffed the five-dollar bill into the man's hand. He grinned and gestured widely.

"Of course, your lordship. Tell the nightclub manager Lou at the gate said you get table four and if he says otherwise, I'll be fixing him. He's easy to spot, the guy in blue at the top of the stairs"

The four of them stepped into the courtyard. The attached carriage house was still in use, now as some sort of office, and the gardens had become an informal area for patrons to relax outside and smoke. Several dozen people in various degrees of formal wear were enjoying the night, chatting and flirting while young women with rather skimpy tunics circulated with trays of drinks. Alex recognized some of the faces of the patrons and was sure the Britt knew most everyone here. This was the young wealthy set of San Francisco, the sons and daughters of those who had managed to hang on to their money, or even profit, in the great stock market crash of October, 1929, as well as their friends, visitors and hanger-ons. Alex felt her eyes hardening and wondered how many of these people could survive four days of being hunted through snow capped mountains or lay as still as death in a cobble stoned alleyway while a man with killer's eyes walked past, the blood still wet on his hands? Not many, she would guess.

"Their world, not mine, " she thought, "and they are welcome to it. I made my choices and won't turn back."

Britt was busily calling greetings to everyone in the garden as she slowed their progress towards the main house. Alex suspected this was done more to show off the fact she was here with Justin and make sure every woman of marriageable age knew it, than to actually say hello to anyone. Not for the first time, Alex had to admire the way Justin kept evading Britt's advances. She wondered just how much longer that was apt to last. Britt was rather like a force of nature when she set her mind on doing something, even if that something didn't want to be done.

The carved wooden doors to the house hung open, admitting the sounds of music, laughter and conversations form the club within. Once again, Go-on and Alex led the way.

The entry hall consisted of the martre d's stand by the entrance to the ground floor restaurant, a entry to the dance floor and bar area across from the restaurant, the coat check room that was under the command of a devastatingly lovely young woman in a very low cut gown, and the staircase that led to the second floor where the stage was located.

Go-on headed straight to the coat check.

"Can I help you?" The young woman said, her blue eyes wide with interest at the dapper Englishman.

Alex noted the trace of dark roots among the girl's platinum hair and suspected it was time for her to apply more peroxide. And she hadn't shaken the last of her midwestern accent, either.

"I am sure you can," Go-on leered, "But alas, for the moment, checking our coats will have to be sufficient."

"Don't you talk fancy!" she gushed, gathering the offered top coat, hat and stick and giving Go-on a brass disk stamped with a number as well as another wide smile.

Go-on returned the smile and stepped to the side, allowing Justin to leave his coat and hat on the counter.

"Really, Go-on, I don't think she's your type," Alex whispered.

"Right-o, this was all for the case of course. No one thinks to question the coat check girl but she sees all and knows all in place like this. If skullduggery is afoot, she'll know and now that I have given her a dose of the old Paget charm, she'll be eager to tell me everything for no more then the cost of a drink. Oh, go on, it's an old gumshoe trick, nothing more."

"Somehow, I find myself doubting your sincerity."

"Your distrust wounds me deeply....Owe!"

The latter exclamation was elicited when Alex landed a well placed, but very surreptitious elbow in Go-on's ribs as they started up the wide marble staircase. Go-on stumbled.

"You all right?" Justin asked.

"Just seem to have made a slight misstep, that's all."

Alex smiled innocently.

The theater was located at the top of the stairs. The long wood-paneled room stretched up to a stage that looked like it had been salvaged from a vaudeville house. The foot lights were dark, shadowing the dark red velvet curtain with its gold cording. Dozens of round tables crowded the floor, many of them already occupied by patrons. Lights amid the crystal chandlers lit the room, though Alex noted fake torches spaced along the walls. She suspected that at the proper, dramatic moment, the electric lights would go out and the torches flicker to light. A long bar ran across the back wall of the theater beside the door in.

A man dressed in a dark blue wizard's robe complete with gold and silver symbols and a pointed hat stood by a podium at the door.

"Can I help you?" he asked as the four of them approached.

"I am sure you can, my good man. Lou, the stalwart guardian of the front gate, said I should tell you that he has directed us to table four, in fact." Go-on dropped another bill, this one a ten-spot, on the podium. It vanished instantly into one of the long blue sleeves.

"Right this way, sir!" The robed man led them across to crowded floor at a table located just to the right of the center stage in the front row. As they crossed the floor, Alex heard a couple exclaim in surprise at the site of the young industrialist. Sometimes it was easy to forget that Justin was famous in his own right.

Justin held a chair for Britt while Go-on pulled out a chair for Alex. She half expected him to yank it away at the last moment to pay her back for the elbow to the ribs, but he acted the perfect gentlemen. A waitress arrived a moment later.

"Champagne, don't you think?" Britt said at once, "don't you think tonight calls for champagne?"

"Right-o! Capital suggestion! And some of those crab-puff thingies, sourdough bread and asparagus, that should do things right I think. Oh, this is on the expense account so long as I ask you how business is, right?"

Justin shook his head in exasperation. Not for the first time, Alex felt a measure of sympathy for the young man. But that wasn't going to stop her from finding her missing jewel.

The food and drink arrived soon after and an impromptu party commenced. Between Britt and Go-on, it was hardly surprising that the mood stayed light. And Alex supposed it added to their cover. No one would expect anyone as boisterous as the two Pagets could be involved in any sort of undercover activity. They were far too loud.

After nearly an hour, and several bottles of champagne that were mostly consumed by Britt and Go-on, the chandeliers flickered. A hush spread through the crowd as the electric lights seemed to sputter and fail. Just as Alex predicted, the torches flickered to life with the soft yellow glow of gaslights. The stage was cast in shadow until with a bright flare, the foot lights came on just as a burst of reddish smoke billowed up from the floor. The air suddenly smelled of burnt sulfur and a figure in elegant black evening dress stepped through the smoke. The man had red skin that stood in bright contrast to his black, slicked back hair, goatee and mustache. A pair of horns rose from his forehead beside his pronounced widows peak. He bowed with fluid grace.

"Welcome, magic seekers," his voice boomed out, "I am Mister Cipher and I shall be your guide tonight into worlds of wonder....."

He gestured with his hands and the touch lights took on a rainbow of hues while phantom laughter echoed from the ceiling.

"....Now let us welcome the masterful talents of the Great Randini!" Mister Cipher leapt lithely from the stage and turned back, sweeping his hand in a wide arc. The curtains drew back revealing the stage with a painted canvas backdrop of a forest setting. One man stood in the center of the stage, a tall man with sandy hair, his tuxedo impeccable. And despite the lack of beard, mustache and turban, Alex was sure it was the Amazing Randu. The large red stone in an ornate golden setting gracing his lapel confirmed her suspicion. Under the bright stage lights, the stone's chatoyant star was clearly visible.

"That is him, all right," Alex hissed. "And he's got my stone."

She reached into her handbag for her gun.

To be continued...